Cushioned toilet seats have been known and used for many years. Cushioned toilet seats evolved from the basic hard-surfaced toilet seats in an effort to improve comfort for those individuals that require extended time moving their bowels and emptying their bladder. Additionally, both hard-surfaced and presently available cushioned toilet seats are generally unsatisfactory for use by a disabled person, in that they do not accommodate perineal cleaning that may take several hours, especially for those having spinal cord injuries which seriously limits or prevents leg movement.
In the current cushioned toilet seat art, the cushion material is made of polyurethane foam encapsulated in a layer of soft plastic, such as polyvinyl chloride. These cushioned toilet seats also have a stiff supporting base, on which the cushion material rests.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,646 to Ginsburg describes a method of making a foam filled cushioned toilet seat. As described, a foamable polyurethane resin reaction mixture is introduced into a soft plastic cover, to become the interior of the toilet seat. The resulting polyurethane foam provides for the cushioning.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,179 to Kimes describes a toilet seat for disabled persons. The described seat is elevated to raise the seating height and is shaped to provide different support points, but has a hard seat surface. Prolonged sitting on such a seat may cause discomfort, fatigue and even sores.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,704 to White, Jr. describes a fluid-cell toilet seat. The toilet seat described in this patent has a plurality of water cells disposed radially between its top cover and base. These radial cells provide some cushioning, but since they are not interfaced together, they do not allow a shift in liquid from a point of pressure to another area of the seat, thereby providing little advantage over foam. Furthermore, during extended sitting, the bumps created by the water cells may become uncomfortable.
What is needed is a toilet seat that provides improved comfort and health benefits.